Bikes are lined up near a fence at Dietz Stadium during Sunday's Bike for Cancer event. (Ariel Zangla -- Daily Freeman)

KINGSTON, N.Y. -- More than 400 riders took part in the 10th annual Bike for Cancer event on Sunday, helping to raise more than $100,000 to assist families battling cancer.

Bike for Cancer, with rides starting and ending at Dietz Stadium, benefits the Benedictine Health Foundation's Rosemary D. Gruner Memorial Cancer Fund. About 420 bicyclists took part in this year's event, with 154 of them doing the 50-mile ride, said Dan Gruner, Rosemary's son and one of the event's organizers. He said that's the largest number of bicyclists for the 50-mile ride since the event was established in memory of his mother, who died in 2003 after battling lung cancer.

The event also featured a 25-mile and a 12-mile ride, as well as a kids' competition, Gruner said.

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"The more money we raise, the more people we can help," he said.

Gruner said that, through the Benedictine Health Foundation, money raised for the fund is distributed in the form of gift cards that can be used at Hannaford supermarket and at Stewart's Shops to help families battling cancer pay for the necessities of daily life.

Ulster County residents, regardless of where they receive treatment, and area residents coming to Ulster County for treatment are eligible for assistance, Gruner said. He said patients can receive up to $500 in gift cards if they meet an income-eligibility requirement.

"During her (Rosemary's) illness, we realized how fortunate we were to have the strength of our family to face the emotional symptoms, as well as the financial resources necessary to handle the constraints brought on by a cancer diagnosis," Gruner wrote on the bikeforcancer.org website. "It also became very apparent that many others from our community were not as fortunate, and the issues they faced were real and troubling."

Since its inception, the fund has assisted nearly 1,000 families, Gruner wrote.

Gruner said about 130 volunteers helped put on Sunday's event, both at the stadium and other locations in Ulster County.

Mary Hakim, who serves on the Benedictine Health Foundation, said the Bike for Cancer event is the foundation's biggest fundraiser. Amy Ryan, whose husband is on the foundation board and is Rosemary Gruner's nephew, added that all the money raised from the event stays in the local area.